For most clubs, a magazine is a key benefit to members. They contain a wealth of interesting and useful content for owners of classic or collectible vehicles. Furthermore, the effort and investment that goes into producing magazines is considerable, so making the most of these efforts is crucial. Digital back issue management allows you to do this.
So, once your magazine has been printed and sent out to all the members, what else can you do?
- Create an electronic version of the magazine. Whilst most people will always love to receive their paper printed copy of the club publication, more and more people appreciate taking their magazine on the move. This can be done fairly crudely with a .pdf or more elegantly with e-reader software. These can then be securely embedded within a members login area on your website if required. For an example, click here.
- Offer back issues to order. You may have additional stock of back issues, in which case the ability for members to order old copies could be helpful. Furthermore, if people can find that their car was featured in old magazines, they may be even more interested to get hold of a copy.
- Create an archive of back issues. People (or just members) can search at their leisure, giving them access to decades of knowledge and content.
- Create the ability to search the back issues. If all back issues are put through text recognition software, a ‘google’ style search function can be created which enables anyone to search for key words. Whether members want to know how to replace the suspension bushes on their car or learn the history of a particular model, this can all be done quickly and easily.
- Give them free to dealers. If dealers receive the club magazine, they will often be inclined to encourage their customers to join your club. They usually welcome magazines for their showrooms as they provide a degree of authority to their own stock and reassure customers that they are specialists in the vehicles they are selling.
So, whilst getting a magazine through the door will always be the best way to enjoy the magazine for many, there are many other ways to make use of it. It’s also worth remembering that your advertisers will also thank you for reaching more people.
We have created an example searchable archive here, which is similar to the ones we’ve created for clients. It can be embedded securely within your website ensuring that not only is the benefit of the online version of your magazine kept exclusive to your members but is also fully searchable.
Our demo will give you a sense of how it could potentially work for you and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.